Chiropractic adjusting-table.



F. W. SEFTON. CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTING TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 26, 1914. 1,170,1 19, Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH C0" WASHINGTON, D. C.

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FREDERICK W. SEFTON, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA.

CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTING-TABLE. l

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

Application filed October 26, 1914.v Serial No. 868,728.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be itlrnown that I, FREDERICK W. SEFTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chiropractic Adjusting-Tables, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to medical appliances, and particularly to a table peculiarly adapted for chiropractic and for giving adjustment to a patient.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a supporting couch or table so constructed that it maybe adjusted for either tall or short patients, and also so formed that the elements of the table may be changed in relation and adjusted in or-y der to provide for different manipulations or adjustments being given.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a table of this character including separate body supporting members adjustable toward or from each other, in which means are provided between these body supporting members for yieldingly supporting a cushion, pillow or like object upon which the middle portion of the patients body may rest.

A further object of the invention is ,to so construct the table that the cushion or pillow supporting means may be shifted downward out of operative position in case itis desired to reverse one of the body supportingfmembers with relation to the other.A

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a head-rest or body supporting member which is longitudinally slotted so that the patient may lic flat upon the body supporting member with his face pressed against the cushion thereof and'with his nose inserted in the longitudinal slot, this being a very necessary position in a number of chiropractic manipulations.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in thev accompanyiny drawings, wherein- Y Figure 1 is a plan view ofy my improved table; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical scct-ion thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan `View of the supporting frame with thev spring cushiony supporting members;1Fg. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an underside plan view of the bench or body support 17; Fio. 6is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

orresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and designated in all parts of the accompanying drawings bylilre reference numerals.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the frame of my table consists of the longitudinal supporting members 2, which are disposed in parallel relation and which are connected at their ends by transverse members 3. Transverse members or braces 4 are disposed intermediate the ends and in spaced relation with each other. The corners of the frame formed by the members 2 and 3 are braced by the vertical legs 5. The members 2 are preferably connected to each other adjacent the braces 4 by transverse lower bolts 6 and by transverse upper bolts 7,.the latter being provided on their extremities with the wing nuts 7. The pur pose of these bolts 7 is to provide for contracting the members 2 and thereby contracting the width of the frame. Hingedly mounted upon each of the braces 4 is a tensioning bridge 8, each of these bridges being adapted to be turned up into a position in alinement with the brace 4 or turned down fiat against the brace 4. It is to be noted that the braces 4 at their ends are cut away as at 9, and that the bridges 8 have a length equal to the portion between the cut away ends, thatis, a length less than the length of the braces 4 between the members 2.

Disposed between the braces 4 are a plurality of relatively light helical springs 10, and, connected to the ends of each spring are the wires 11 which extend over the bridges 8 and are connected at their ends to eyes 12- carried by a cross bar 13. This cross bar in turn is connected by hooks 14 to eyes 15 projecting from` the posts 5. Intermediate eyes 16 are disposed upon the end pieces 3, and with which these hooks 14 may be connected. Inasmuch as the eyes 16 are disposed farther away from the middle of the frame than the eyes 15, it will be obvious that when the hooks 14 are connected with the eyes 16 the springs 10 will be stretched to a greater extent. Thus I have provided means for exerting any desired tension upon these springs 10.

' In certain-manipulations one or both of the bridges 8 are turned upward, and in certain other manipulations these bridges are turned downward, as will be later described Slidably mounted upon the frame formed by the members 2 are thefbody supporting sections 17 and 18. T he section 17 comprises a rectangular frame, the longitudinal mem bers of which are adapted to rest upon the upper edges of the members 2 and have slid ing engagement therewith. Disposed upon this frame is a plate 19 covered with leather or other suitable material `20, padding being dispcsedbet'ween the plate 19 and` the covering 20 so as to cushion thecover. Extending longitudinally along and disposed upon the, inside faces ofthe longitudinal members of the frame are the guides 21 which are adapted to extend down against the inside face of the members 2.

It is to be noted that the Supporting meml` ber 1,7 has its topV extending practically parallel with the upper face of; the members 2 and 3. The supporting. member 18 is con-I s tructed practically in the same manner as the supporting member 17, with. the differ:- ence, however, that the top plate 22 is,y in-n clined with relation to the lower-edges of the side walls of the frame. 1t isalsofto'be noted thatlthis top 22 is larger at one end than at the other and that this larger end is more elevated than the smaller end.' This top is likewise covered with leatheror other suitable material, the padding being dis= posed between the top plate and the 'coverE The-top is formed with alongitudinally eX- tending slot 23 of any desired extent, whose purpose will be later described. It will be seen now that both of the supporting mem.. bersareadjustable longitudinally along the body, and.; that they may beheld in any adt jyusted position by turning` the thumb screw 7, thus contracting the sides 2 of the frame and r-igidly holding these supporting'inemf. hers frein any longitudinall movement.

The. practical use of my invention; is. as follows: The. patient lies upony the supportY ing members face downward, with theilower two-thirds of the thighs upon, thebody sup: port 17 and( with the shoulders upOD the bodyy support 18, the lower or inner end of the supporting plate 22 of thebodyvv being disposed even with. a line drawn straight across the-breast just above the nipples. The centralportion, of the patients body is sus-1 pended between the two benches 0r body supports. rlhe adjustment is then given by the chiropractor placing his hands upon the patents spine at the point ofsubluxaf. tion ;t-hen with a; quick downward.; thrust the chiropractor' puts the subluxatedvertebla. int-,o its proper position.

In the operation above described, it will be seen that the abdomen of the patient enf. tends between the two benches or body sup= ports, and therefore thefohject. ott-1,112.; springs 10 will be obvious. A cushion or pillow, designated 241 in. the drawings, is placed upon these springs andV yieldingly supports the abdomen of the patient. `Without such a support thegreater number of patients, when lying suspended between the two benches ory supports 17 and 18 will try to hold themselves up by contracting the muscles of theback and abdomen, fearing that in, some manner they will fall between the two benches or supports 17 and 18 when the adjusting movement is giveny and alsoclaiming that when, suspendedwithout a support forth@ middle of the back that the adjusting movement hurts them. In my improvement it willbe seen that-this fear is overcome, that there is no contraction of the muscles as a consequence, and that they` lie upon the table mentire Comfort withv all ot the muscles. entirely relaxed, thus allowing the chiroprace tor to give the adjustmentwith fifty per cent. less force and with an. equal amount of casato theY patient,

I do not wish tov be, limited to the use4 of a ausiliari in connection withV my adjusting tablegas anynlike cushioning Ineansmay be used, some practitioners. preferring thel use. of av pillow for the purpose. It is obvious that withprny device apillow or.v a4 flat cushion may be used, or` that if necessary no cushion need be used... 'The fnisliinn.t may be placed loosely upon, the springsy or may be tied vwith strings provided for the purpose, A

as the operator 'may desire.

NotI only is my table adapted for the purposes.. heretoforel described, but ity isalso adapted for. the purpose 0f giving coccygeal adjustments. My tableis adaptedE for this purpesebyreason, of. the fact that thehead-y piece or bench-18, inav bel reversed s0 that its highest end is adjacent to the bench, or Support 1.7v and by tunning down the adianentl hinged bridge 8, Itis alsofobviouethnt both, ot theliinged bridges. 8. may beturned down. ift desired, thusrelieving the tension on, the springe. as' for instance. when the, table is not in. use, and either oney of these bridges.mayvbeturnedup to ada-pt the table for Special purposes.

Theohject of forming` the head bench or support withv the longitudinally extending groovesQ- is. thatI somechiropraotors. desire that the patient shall lie upon the table with his face-turned down, the nose fitting in the groove,` the groove thus obviatingthe necessity othaving the patients. head turned to onev side, asvwould; be necessary if there were no nose receiving groove formed in the sup` port.` Vlhen` the face is turned downwardwith the nose within, the groovethe cervical vertebrae are. more easily paipnted and more easily adjusted. Thiais fer the reason that when; the yhead turned'. to either .Side with the remainder; Off the body tint unen the table., tendenny .te 19,012v ver tebrae'inithe regionof 4the'neck and thus not only make them harder to adjust, but make it uncomfortable for thepatient.

, In the practical operation of my invention i provide two head-pieces, one being formed with the longitudinal slot to receive the vnose of the patient and the other without .this slot tor the reason that some chiropractors prefer to dispose the patient with his head turned, and further, some patients do not 'care to lie face downward, as first described.

1t is to be noted that the members 14 have screw threaded engagement with the braces 13, Aand hence these hooks or members let may be rotated to adjust to some extent the tension of the spring 10.

It is to be understood of course, that while I. have illustrated certain details of my invention, I do notl wish to be limited to these details, it being obvious that they may be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and-it will be furthermore understood that while I have described certain operations or manipulations to which my table is particularly adapted, yet the table is also adapted to other manipulations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, main body supporting members mountedV on the frame and in spaced relation, a plurality of supporting members disposed lower than said body supporting members and extending across the space between them and operatively connected at their ends to said frame, said second-named supporting members including a plurality of stretched helical springs, and spaced independently operable means disposed intermediate of the ends of said second-named supporting members tor raising or lowering the second-named supporting members whereby to increase or decrease the tension of said springs or vertically adjust the second-named supporting members or incline them in either direction.

2. A chiropractic table including a supporting frame, body supporting members disposedin spaced relation, a plurality of stretched helical springs disposed lower than the body supporting members and between them and operatively connected at their ends to said frame, and hinged members mounted upon the frame at opposite ends of the springs and movable independently into a vertical position whereby to bodily raise or lower the springs, incline them in one or the other direction.I or tension said springs.

3. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, body supporting members spaced from each other and mounted on the trame, resilient cushion supporting means disposed lower than and between said members, and means for raising or lowering both endsfotsaid cushion supporting means or inclining the cushion supporting means in either direction. i

4. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, body supporting members spaced from each other and mounted on the frame, a plurality of helical springs disposed between and lower than the body supporting members, flexible connections extending from the ends of the springs toward the ends of the frame, means for operatively connecting the wires to the frame, said means providing for the tensioning ot' the springs, and means for bodily raising or lowering both ends of the springs.

5. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, body supporting members mounted on the frame in spaced relation, longitudinally extending springs mounted on the frame lower than the body supporting members and extending between them. and means for raising or lowering both ends of said springs independently of the body supporting members.

6. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, body supporting members mounted on the frame in spaced relation, longitudinally extending springs mounted on the frame lower than the body supporting members and extending between them, and means for raising or lowering said springs at both of their ends independently of the body supporting members.

7. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, transversely extending braces disposed intermediate the ends of the frame in spaced relation, hinged bridges mounted upon said braces and movable into a vertical position, springs disposed between the braces, wires engaging the ends of the springs extending over the braces-means for connecting all of said wires to the frame, and adjustable body supporting members mounted upon the frame.

8. vA chiropractic table Vcomprising a supporting frame, including parallel longitudinally spaced members. body supports slidably mounted upon said members for adjustment toward or from each other, and means for contracting the width between said members to thereby clamp the body supports in longitudinallv adiusted position.

9. A chiropractic table comprising a supporting frame, including end members, and longitudinally extending members, braces spaced from each other and disposed inter- Vmediate of the ends of said frame, bridges hinged to said braces for movement into a vertical position, a plurality of helical springs disposed between the braces, a plurality of wires extending one from each end of each spring and over said braces, a crosse piece disposed at each end of the frame and to which the like ends of the adjacent wires are connected, means adjustably connecting lthe braces to the ends of the frame, and. lon

' gitudinally adjustable body supports mount ed upon said frame.

10. A chiropractic table including a. supporting frame, body supporting members mountedr thereon in spaced relation, 'a plurality of elastic supporting members disposed lower than the body supporting members and extending between them and opera tively connected at their endsy to said frame, and hinged members mounted upon the frame in spaced relation to each other and movable independently into ztverticfal position whereby to bodily raise or lower the elastic support-ingv members, inolining them in one or the other direction or tensioning them.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presencev of two witnesses.

FREDERICK IV. SEFTON.

Vitnesses W. T. BROWNLIE, GEO. E. GENSLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- y Washington, I). C. 

